Realme GT Explorer Master & GT Master hands-on review

Realme GT Master design and ergonomics

Even if it's the cheapest from the bunch, the Realme GT Master doesn't compromise when it comes to build quality and design. The Voyager Grey color adopts that concave leather back with Naoto Fukasawa's signature and since it's a smaller phone than the GT Explorer Master, it's even lighter, tipping the scale at 180g. This time around, the leather version is heavier and thicker - 180g/8.7mm vs. the glass White and Cosmos Black versions - 174g/8.0mm.

As we already said, the design requires some getting used to but the leather option is grippier and definitely feels nicer. No fingerprints and smudges and it's quite fresh - stands out from the rest of the glass sandwich smartphones. The one small detail that gives it away is the side frame. We believe is made of plastic and has a glossy finish all-around. All edges are curved too, including the top and bottom ones.

Identical camera island too and so is the front curved panel. The under-display fingerprint scanner is placed too close to the bottom edge and requires some finger gymnastics.

Realme's decision to bring the "suitcase design" to the GT Master edition as well is more than welcome. It's one of the freshest midrangers this year and it's well-built too. It has that premium appeal and it's lightweight and thin enough not to be a burden in your pocket or hand.

Hardware overview, performance

The Realme GT Master has fewer differences compared to the standard GT. It does change the chipset for a more affordable Snapdragon 778G 5G, which is based on a more cost-efficient 6nm manufacturing process. That's a significant step back from the Snapdragon 888. However, the 778G employs the latest trend in SoC architecture with one Kryo 670 Prime core clocked at 2.4 GHz, 3x Kryo 670 Gold cores running at 2.2 GHz and a cluster of 4x Kryo 670 Silver cores at 1.9 GHz.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  3555
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  3091
• Realme GT Explorer Master
  3050
• Realme GT Master
  2773
• Poco X3 GT
  2310
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  1927
• Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
  1820
• Poco X3 NFC
  1777

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  1139
• Realme GT Explorer Master
  1020
• Realme GT Master
  791
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  712
• Poco X3 GT
  693
• Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
  636
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  616
• Poco X3 NFC
  568

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  703986
• Poco X3 GT
  506800
• Realme GT Master
  488456
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  435166
• Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
  334981
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  318117
• Poco X3 NFC
  283750

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  810433
• Realme GT Explorer Master
  717879
• Poco X3 GT
  578505
• Realme GT Master
  542323
• Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
  386474

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  65
• Realme GT Explorer Master
  59
• Poco X3 GT
  44
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  43
• Realme GT Master
  33
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  21
• Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
  19
• Poco X3 NFC
  19

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme GT 5G
  55
• Realme GT Explorer Master
  50
• Poco X3 GT
  38
• Oppo Reno5 Pro 5G
  36
• Realme GT Master
  29
• Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite 5G
  17
• Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
  16
• Poco X3 NFC
  16

You can see that the Snapdragon 778G slots in right behind the Snapdragon 870, as expected. It even gets ahead of the competition from MediaTek in CPU-heavy and combined workloads all while taking the back seat in GPU-intensive tasks.

The GT Master retains the same 6.43-inch 120Hz OLED screen with 1080 x 2400px resolution (and we are happy to report the same brightness control experience we've observed on the GT Explorer Master), keeps the same storage variants 128 and 256GB but instead of 12GB of RAM for the latter, the GT Master settles for 8GB. The camera setup is almost identical to the original GT - 64MP f/1.8 main camera, 8MP ultrawide with f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP dedicated macro shooter.

However, Realme managed to cut on some expenses without going overboard. For instance, the main 64MP sensor on the Master edition is smaller in size compared to the one found on the standard GT - 1/2" vs. 1/1.73" and uses smaller pixels too - 0.7µm vs. 0.8µm pixels. The ultrawide camera gets a smaller aperture - f/2.3 vs. F/2.2 but that shouldn't matter all that much in the real world. A small upgrade in the selfie department should deliver a bit more detailed pictures as it uses a 32MP f/2.5, 1/2.74" camera.

Unfortunately, the stereo loudspeakers have been axed and so are 200mAh of the total battery capacity and is now 4,300 mAh. Still the same 65W fast charging support, though, and the same charging times are advertised.